H.R. 8426

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8426 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8426

To encourage States to provide rights to survivors of violence, and for 
other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 21, 2026

Ms. Simon (for herself, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Norton, 
Mrs. Dingell, and Mr. Thanedar) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To encourage States to provide rights to survivors of violence, and for 
other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Crime Survivor Support and Stability 
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. RIGHTS OF SURVIVORS OF VIOLENCE.

It is the sense of the Congress that each State should review and 
revise, if necessary, its laws to ensure that survivors of violence 
receive the healing, safety, and support they require after a 
victimization, taking into account the following:
(1) A survivor of violence should be accorded the following 
rights:
(A) A right to trusted and accessible community-
based help to heal from trauma, including for adult and 
minor survivors.
(B) A right to programs that offer emergency and 
flexible financial help quickly, without burdensome 
administrative or exclusionary restrictions.
(C) A right to stable housing, including the right 
to break a lease without penalty, or be protected from 
eviction.
(D) A right to paid and job-protected leave time 
off from work to address safety, medical, financial, 
emotional, and other recovery, healing, and safety 
needs related to the victimization.
(E) A right to debt forgiveness and financial 
recovery in the case of a debt that is related to the 
victimization.
(F) A right to legal assistance related to housing, 
job, immigration, or family legal issues.
(G) A right to request and access community-based 
alternative accountability or resolution processes, 
instead of prosecution in the criminal justice system.
(H) A right to protection from arrest or conviction 
for survivors criminalized as a result of 
victimization, and to mitigated sentencing and record 
clearance for convicted survivors whose offense was 
related to trauma.
(2) The rights of a survivor of violence under paragraph 
(1) should not be contingent on or in any way limited or 
restricted by the following:
(A) A condition that the survivor or anyone else 
has reported the victimization to a law enforcement 
agency, court, or other local, State, or Federal agency 
designated to investigate or prosecute crimes, abuse, 
or violence.
(B) A condition that the survivor or a family 
member of the survivor cooperate with a law enforcement 
agency, court, or other local, State, or Federal agency 
designated to investigate or prosecute crimes, abuse, 
or violence.
(C) A survivor's race, religion, national origin, 
sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender 
identity, marital status, immigration status, housing 
status, economic status, or family status.
(D) Whether a survivor has an arrest or conviction 
record, is or has been incarcerated, or is or has been 
under any form of correctional supervision.
(E) Any allegation that the survivor contributed to 
the survivor's own victimization.
(F) The identity of the person who committed the 
act of the violence (including whether the person is a 
law enforcement officer) or the relationship of the 
person to the victim.

SEC. 3. FLEXIBLE ASSISTANCE FOR SURVIVORS OF VIOLENCE.

(a) Grant Program Established.--The Attorney General, acting 
through the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime of the 
Department of Justice (in this section referred to as the 
``Director''), is authorized to award grants to community-based 
organizations for the purpose of establishing assistance funds to 
distribute direct cash assistance to survivors of violence, with the 
goal of improving safety, healing, and financial stability for 
survivors of violence, and family members of survivors of violence.
(b) Application.--An eligible community-based organization seeking 
a grant under this section shall submit an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the Director may 
reasonably require, including the following:
(1) A description of the organization's history serving one 
or more of the groups described in subsection (e)(4).
(2) A description of how the community or communities the 
organization serves are impacted by violence and incarceration.
(3) The estimated number of survivors of violence or family 
members of survivors of violence the organization currently 
serves.
(4) The estimated number of survivors of violence or family 
members of survivors of violence to whom the organization 
anticipates it will distribute grant funds.
(5) How the organization plans to distribute cash 
assistance to survivors of violence or family members of 
survivors of violence to meet their immediate financial needs.
(6) How the organization plans to minimize the burden on 
survivors of violence and their family members to provide 
excessive documentation or paperwork.
(c) Eligibility.--A community-based organization shall be eligible 
to apply for a grant under this section if the organization has a 
history of serving survivors of violence, and the majority of people 
the organization, or a project within the organization that will 
administer the grant, serves are survivors of violence.
(d) Administration.--In administering the grant program under this 
section, the Director shall do all of the following:
(1) Strive to minimize the paperwork burden on grant 
applicants and grantees.
(2) Strive to develop application, awards, and reporting 
processes that are accessible to community-based organizations 
without past experience receiving a Federal grant award.
(3) Develop a plan to publicize the grant program in 
advance of an application deadline.
(4) Provide technical assistance and training opportunities 
to applicants and grantees.
(5) Develop tools to support applicants applying for a 
grant under this section, including, templates and sample 
applications, which shall be posted prominently on the website 
of the Office for Victims of Crimes.
(6) Develop a website where survivors of violence and 
members of the public can locate contact information for 
community-based organizations receiving grants under this 
section.
(e) Priority.--When considering grant applications, the Director 
shall give priority to community-based organizations that--
(1) are located in, serve, and directly employ members of 
communities that experience disproportionately high rates of 
gun violence and imprisonment, as compared to such rates 
nationally, as evidenced by, during the prior 3-year period--
(A) disproportionately high rates of individuals 
who have been injured or killed by a firearm, as 
compared to such rates nationally; and
(B) disproportionately high rates of individuals 
who have been arrested or sent to jail or prison, as 
compared to such rates nationally;
(2) are led by, or employ, individuals who are survivors of 
violence or who are formerly incarcerated;
(3) are led by individuals who have proven ties to the 
community in which the organization operates;
(4) have a history of providing services focusing on 
vulnerable survivors of violence, including--
(A) survivors of color;
(B) survivors with disabilities;
(C) survivors who are transgender or gender 
nonconforming;
(D) survivors who have faced disproportionate 
police contact;
(E) survivors who are formerly incarcerated or who 
have past arrests or convictions;
(F) immigrant survivors;
(G) Native American survivors;
(H) survivors who are unhoused;
(I) survivors of firearm injuries;
(J) survivors who have lost a family member to 
homicide;
(K) low-income survivors; or
(L) geographically underserved survivors; and
(5) have leadership that reflects the racial and ethnic 
diversity of the community in which the organization operates.
(f) Geographic Diversity.--In selecting grant recipients, the 
Director shall ensure that, collectively, grantees represent a 
diversity of geographic areas.
(g) Use of Funds.--
(1) Distribution of funds.--An organization receiving a 
grant under this section may use the funds as follows:
(A) Distributing unrestricted cash assistance to 
survivors of violence to meet the financial needs of 
survivors or to cover the expenses of survivors, which 
assistance--
(i) may be distributed at the discretion of 
the organization and in amounts determined by 
the organization based on the needs of 
survivors, and in a way that minimizes or 
eliminates the burden on survivors to provide 
external documentation of their needs or 
expenses;
(ii) may be distributed directly to a 
survivor, to the parent or guardian of a 
survivor if the survivor is a minor or 
dependent adult, or if the survivor or the 
parent or guardian of a minor or dependent 
survivor requests, to a vendor, business, or 
another third party to pay for an expense or 
purchase a product on a survivor's behalf; or
(iii) may be distributed in the form of 
cash, electronic transfer, check, direct 
deposit, prepaid card, or in another similar 
manner at the discretion of the organization 
and based on the needs of survivors.
(B) To establish and maintain a program to 
distribute the assistance described under subparagraph 
(A), including staffing, training, operational, and 
evaluation expenses, except that not more than 20 
percent of the grant may be used for the purposes under 
this subparagraph.
(2) Policies and procedures.--A community-based 
organization receiving a grant under this section shall 
establish and maintain policies and procedures for distributing 
cash assistance to survivors of violence that--
(A) promote the distribution of cash assistance to 
survivors in a manner that meets the immediate needs of 
survivors quickly;
(B) do not require survivors to engage in other 
services or programs as a condition of receiving cash 
assistance;
(C) do not require survivors to provide or maintain 
burdensome documentation of their need or spending;
(D) do not require survivors to report a crime to a 
law enforcement agency, court, or other local, State, 
Tribal, or Federal agency designated to investigate or 
prosecute crimes, abuse, or violence as a condition of 
receiving cash assistance;
(E) do not exclude survivors on the basis of 
citizenship or immigration status; and
(F) do not exclude survivors on the basis of an 
arrest or conviction record, nor on the basis of a 
survivor's status under correctional control or 
supervision.
(h) Grant Duration.--A grant awarded under this section shall be 
for a 4-year period.
(i) First Award.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, 
not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Director shall make the first grant award under this section.
(j) Exclusion From Income, Resources, and Assets.--
(1) Flexible cash assistance payments excluded from income, 
resources, and assets for purposes of means tests.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law (other than section 
1403 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 20102)), 
for the purpose of any maximum allowed income, resource, or 
asset eligibility requirement in any Federal, State, or local 
government program using Federal funds that provides medical or 
other assistance (or payment or reimbursement of the cost of 
such assistance), any amount of cash assistance received by a 
survivor of violence through the grant program established 
under this section shall not be included for purposes of 
calculating income, resources, or assets of the survivor, nor 
shall that amount reduce the amount of the assistance available 
to the survivor from Federal, State, or local government 
programs using Federal funds.
(2) Flexible cash assistance payments not considered gross 
income.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any cash 
assistance received by a survivor of violence through the grant 
program established under this section shall be excluded from 
gross income under section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986.
(k) Reports.--
(1) Reports to the director.--Not later than 1 year after 
receiving a grant under this section, and annually thereafter, 
each community-based organization that receives a grant under 
this section shall submit a report on the use of such grant 
funds to the Director, as required by the Director. Such report 
shall, at a minimum, include--
(A) the aggregate number of survivors of violence 
who received cash assistance through the grant program; 
and
(B) the average amount of assistance each such 
survivor received through the grant program.
(2) Report to congress.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date on which the first 4-year grant period under this section 
ends, and every 4 years thereafter, the Director shall submit 
to Congress a report that, at a minimum, includes--
(A) any findings resulting from reports submitted 
to the Director under paragraph (1); and
(B) best practices for grantees under this section 
to implement flexible cash assistance programs for 
survivors of violence.
(l) Administration and Evaluation.--The Director may reserve up to 
8 percent of the funds appropriated for the grant program each year for 
the costs of administering the grant program, including, without 
limitation, employing personnel, providing technical assistance or 
training to grantees or prospective grantees, contracting with 
independent researchers to evaluate the impact of the program, and 
issuing a report on the impact of the grant program.
(m) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to implement this section $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2027 through 2031.

SEC. 4. STATE LEVEL SUPPLEMENTAL VICTIM SURVEYS.

(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, acting through the 
Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of 
Justice (in this section referred to as the ``Director''), shall make 
grants to States to administer surveys to survivors of violence to 
determine their needs related to having been survivors of violence.
(b) Priority.--The Director shall prioritize awarding grants to 
recipients that solicit information about one or more of the following:
(1) The types of services survivors of violence received 
related to having been victimized, and the experiences of such 
survivors while receiving such services.
(2) Whether survivors wanted services that they did not 
receive.
(3) The experiences of survivors with relocation, eviction, 
immigration, and housing following victimization.
(4) The experiences of survivors with the use of force by 
and injury caused by law enforcement officers.
(5) The prevalence of victimization and the post-
victimization needs of--
(A) individuals who have been arrested or convicted 
of crimes;
(B) individuals who are unhoused; or
(C) individuals who are living in institutions, 
including prisons, jails, medical or nursing 
facilities, or mental health facilities.
(c) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, each State 
that receives a grant under this section shall submit to the 
Director a report documenting the results and findings from the 
survey funded by the grant.
(2) Publication by director.--The Director shall make 
publicly available on the website of the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics the reports submitted under paragraph (1).
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2027 and 2031.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Community-based organization.--The term ``community-
based organization'' means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, or 
Tribal organization that serves a specific geographic 
community. Such term does not include any law enforcement 
agency or any court, or any other local, State, or Federal 
agency designated to investigate or prosecute crimes, abuse, or 
violence.
(2) Family member.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
(B), the term ``family member'' means, with respect to 
an individual, any of the following:
(i) A child (whether a biological, foster, 
adoptive, or step relationship), or a person 
who is under the legal guardianship of the 
individual or to whom the individual stands in 
loco parentis or has stood in loco parentis.
(ii) A biological, adoptive, or foster 
parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an 
individual or an individual's spouse or 
domestic partner, or a person who stood in loco 
parentis when the individual or the 
individual's spouse or domestic partner was a 
minor child.
(iii) A person to whom the individual is 
legally married under the laws of any State, or 
a domestic partner.
(iv) A grandparent, grandchild, or sibling 
(whether a biological, foster, adoptive, or 
step relationship) of the individual or of the 
individual's spouse or domestic partner.
(v) A person who lives in the same 
household as the individual.
(vi) Any other individual related by blood, 
adoption, or marriage or whose close 
association with the individual is the 
equivalent of a family relationship.
(B) Exclusion.--Such term does not include a person 
who has committed an act or conduct described in clause 
(i) through (vi) of subparagraph (A) against the 
individual.
(3) Survivor of violence.--The terms ``survivor of 
violence'' means an individual against whom any of the 
following have been committed:
(A) An act or conduct during which another person--
(i) caused or threatened to cause bodily 
injury to that individual;
(ii) exhibited, drew, brandished, or used a 
firearm, or other weapon, against that 
individual; or
(iii) used, or threatened to use, force 
against that individual to cause injury or 
death.
(B) Dating violence.
(C) Domestic violence.
(D) Family violence.
(E) Sexual assault.
(F) Sexual harassment.
(G) Trafficking.
(H) Stalking.
(4) Tribal organization.--The term ``Tribal organization'' 
has the meaning given such term in section 40002 of the 
Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291).
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